COVID-19: Omicron Variant Now In 23 Countries, Says WHO

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says cases of the new Omicron variant have been reported in at least 23 countries in five of the six WHO regions.
WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, disclosed on Wednesday in Geneva, saying that the number of cases was expected to grow.

“WHO takes this development extremely seriously, and so should every country,” he told journalists listening in to the agency’s regular virtual briefing on COVID-19.”

“But it should not surprise us. This is what viruses do. And it’s what this virus will continue to do, as long as we allow it to continue spreading,” he said.

Preliminary evidence suggests Omicron may have “potential immune escape” and or possibly higher transmissibility, when compared to previous variants of concern, according to WHO’s latest weekly epidemiological update on COVID-19, also released on Wednesday.

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